"The manifest purposes of pendente lite allowances to a wife are to enable her to live in her accustomed manner pending the disposition of the action and to provide her with whatever is needed by her to litigate properly her side of the controversy."

"Wide discretion is vested in the trial court in determining the amount and duration of spousal support. 'In order not to be arbitrary, discretion must be exercised along legal lines, taking into consideration the circumstances of the parties, their necessities and the financial ability of the husband.'"

"There is nothing talismanic about the 'one-half of the married life' concept. It is not an eternal verity or an immutable principle carved in legal stone or etched in judicial steel. It fits some cases, it doesn't fit others. In some cases the wife is not entitled to a dime. In other cases she must be supported for life. Each and every case must be judged on its own merits. A judicial policy cannot be tolerated which affords blind obedience to the idea that the support order be for a period equal to 'one-half of the married life.' In each case the trial court must make a careful and measured judgment reflecting a sound exercise of discretion in the award of spousal support and its duration. That discretion, we repeat, must be based on facts and reasonable inferences to be drawn from these facts."